The UN maritime agency issued a cease and desist notice to Iran on Friday, calling for free passage to be restored in the Strait of Hormuz – a decision that showed the body was not swayed by Tehran's justification of its "wrongful act".
In a meeting on Friday, the International Maritime Organisation adopted a decision to condemn Iran’s closure of the strait, as the US and Iran announced the channel had been reopened. There was some confusion later after Iranian state media reported that the move would be "void" unless the US ended its naval blockade.
The IMO’s Legal committee agreed on the decision during its annual meeting this week. It also condemned Iran’s threats to ships and its attacks on Gulf countries.
Three weeks ago, the IMO’s council of 40 member states agreed to condemn Iran’s attacks in an extraordinary session that was called following its threats to shipping through the strait.
The decision was tabled by the UAE during the week-long session. “The IMO Legal Committee affirmed that such actions are contrary to the right of transit passage in the strait, which shall not be impeded,” the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“It further demanded that Iran cease its attacks, remove any sea mines that it may have laid in and around the Strait of Hormuz and abide by its obligations under international law, in particular to ensure unhampered transit passage of vessels in the strait."
The UAE’s permanent representative to the IMO, Mohamed AlKaabi, welcomed the decision. “Today, the Legal Committee stood united to defend a principled international maritime order and upheld the right of transit passage of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz," he said.
“The committee was not moved by Iran’s attempt to justify its wrongful acts and to undermine the authority and actions of the IMO. Through the committee, the international community decisively reaffirmed the right of transit passage in this vital international waterway.”
Tehran said on Friday that the strait was “completely open”. US President Donald Trump said in a post on social media that the American naval blockade would remain in force, while thanking Iran for reopening the waterway.
Efforts to help 20,000 seafarers and 2,000 vessels stranded in the Arabian Gulf for weeks will now follow. IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez said on Friday that he was ready to proceed with the evacuation “without delay”, during a UK-French summit focused on the strait.
Addressing co-hosts French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Mr Dominguez added that the “technical and operational developments” of the evacuation process also involved Iran.
“I have begun the development of an evacuation framework, using the existing traffic separation scheme, to securely evacuate ships and seafarers from the conflict zone provided it is safe to do so,” he said. “As an organisation, we are ready to implement this framework without delay.”
The Legal Committee also asked Mr Dominguez to monitor the “negative impact ... caused by Iran” on international shipping, the marine environment and seafarers. “This will help to hold Iran accountable for its unlawful actions,” the UAE ministry said in its statement.
It also addressed the issue of shadow fleets, including those operated by Iran, approving guidelines to "improve transparency and due diligence in ship registration, as well as prevent fraudulent registrations and misuse of flags", the statement added.
The number of ships flying a false flag had increased since the previous session in 2025, with 529 ships falsely flying the flag of a country in the past year, the committee said. Nearly 40 member states had seen cases of their flags being fraudulently used by criminal groups without their knowledge or consent.
